mcg

Odds are you're a fan of at least one of McG's TV shows. The busy executive producer/director currently helms NBC cult-hit 'Chuck' and Fox's 'Human Target'. He serves as executive producer for The CW's 'Supernatural' and held that position and also wrote for Fox's short-lived 'Fastlane'.

There are very few moments in American history when the unrepresented and disenfranchised masses of society manage to muster together enough courage and strength to topple the high watermark of oppression. They seem to come along once in a millennium, but when they do, they give you this warm and fuzzy feeling inside that maybe life doesn't suck as much as you thought it did and everything, like the movies, may actually turn out alright in the end, closing credits, fade-to-black.

The early days of the American colonies saw the uprising of the Boston Tea Party in which angry settlers grew tired of unreasonable taxation. The mid 20th century saw the sluggish but eventual snowballing steamroll of the Civil Rights Movement. And I like to think that the new millennium's moment of triumph goes to the total destruction and annihilation of Fox's 'Spaced' remake. Granted, I'm not setting the bar very high, but it's only been ten years. Baby steps.

Fans of the late, lamented mother-daughter drama 'Gilmore Girls' have reason to celebrate today as the network has announced they are re-teaming with the show's creator Amy Sherman-Palladino for a new series. But will lingering resentment over 'Gilmore''s demise threaten the project?

That's the key question being asked after the Wrap reported today that Sherman-Palladino and her husband, producer Daniel Palladino, had agreed to create a new series for the network that famously forced them out in 2006 following a contract dispute. That decision resulted in the final lame-duck season of 'Gilmore Girls' becoming a critical and ratings failure and eventually led Sherman-Palladino to create the equally unpopular Fox sitcom 'The Return of Jezebel James,' which crashed after just three episodes.

Who'd have guessed that Larry Charles - the mysterious director known for his ZZ Top beard and for aiding and abetting the comic provocations of Larry David and Sacha Baron Cohen - was a big ol' sci-fi fanboy?

Well this is promising news indeed. Human Target is one of the most interesting concepts in the DC Universe and the Peter Milligan Vertigo series of the same name was one of the highlights of the early 2000s. The story centers on Christopher Chance, who takes on the identity of his clients to protect them from pending threats and help them eliminate them. He's a master of disguise in a way that Face/Off would envy. And now he has a name.

The Hollywood Reporter is reporting that Mark Valley has been cast as Christopher Chance in the Fox pilot for Human Target. Valley has been a staple on the screen for years, most prominently for three years on Boston Legal and currently recurring on Fringe, where he has mastered the creepy stare. The guy can go from comedic to heartfelt to bad-ass to, as I said, creepy, and diversity is what you need for this role. This is a great casting choice. He's not too young, he's big and he's got an intensity about him. Man, I hope Fox picks this up even more now! Maybe Valley can go in to FOX in disguise and vote to go to series.

If the rumors are to be believed, then the inevitable has occurred. Fox has passed on the Americanized version of Spaced (nicknamed "McSpaced") and its fans are breathing a collective sigh of relief.

Producer McG made a huge mistake when he decided to not include the creators of the original, British version in his remake yet he included their as if they were still involved. Simon Pegg, Jessica Hynes-Stevenson and Edgar Wright have been very vocal in their displeasure regarding the remake.

Known for its cinematic style and pop culture references, the original Spaced launched the careers of everyone involved. Pegg and Wright have gone on to bigger and better things (such as Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz) and Stevenson has starred in several British productions afterwards.

It's never a good sign when one is trying to remake a show and pisses off the original creators. NBC was smart enough to have the creators of The Office rewrite their original pilot and give them creator credits. Why couldn't Spaced?

When I first heard the news of an American Spaced remake, I was outraged, just based on principle. How dare McG touch one of my favorite shows of all time? How dare he even entertain the very notion? "For shame, McG," I thought, "For shame." I then proceeded to the nearest Best Buy, where I collected all the copies of Charlie's Angels and Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle and set them alight. I was then banned from entering any Best Buy ever again, but I think I made my point clear.

Spaced director Edgar Wright recently updated his blog with his own thoughts on this situation and now I'm even more upset. The gist is this: McG and FOX are planning to remake Spaced. Director Edgar Wright and writers/stars Simon Pegg and Jessica Stevenson were not contacted before the decision was made to pursue an American version. They will not be involved in the same fashion as the way Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant worked with NBC's adaptation of their creation, The Office.

In case you haven't heard, there is the possibility of a writers strike in early 2008, and TV networks have started to buy more and more scripts ahead of time just in case.

ABC has Section 8, which is described as being about "everyday people with exceptional neurological abilities recruited to work for a secret branch of a government agency" (again? *sigh*). NBC passed on the show because it was too much like another show they have about ordinary folks with powers (hmmm...The Biggest Loser?)

Let me make myself clear from the get go: Watch Chuck this fall. I have seen the first two episodes and I am in love. You can read the rest of this spoiler-free early look if you want a little bit more about the show, but I just had to get that off my chest before I started.

Chuck follows the recent trend in television and film of Beta-male leads. What do I mean by that term, one that was obviously developed by some social anthropology professor with too much time on his hands?

I know the picture's a little blurry folks, but isn't it worth it to know how far the cast of NBC's new pilot Chuck is willing to go to get you to love them? Stars Zachary Levi and Joshua Gomez were not, in fact, reenacting the finer points of the Kama Sutra on stage. They were recreating their comic ninja fight from the pilot. Now that's we've cleared that up, more on Chuck after the jump.

NBC's new lineup continued on day two of its press presentation with Chuck, a one-hour drama by Josh Schwartz and McG, the creative team that brought viewers The O.C. The new series stars Zachary Levi, best known for his four years on Less Than Perfect.

If we're supposed to like Chuck, Levi's well cast in the role. He has a self-effacing way about him, especially when asked if he's bulked up over the last few years. He jokes he's eaten a lot of pizza and doesn't work out as much as he should.

Co-star Adam Baldwin is asked a question pretty much everyone knows the answer to. No, he's not related to the famous acting Baldwin brothers of Long Island. Baldwin jokes he hopes to meet Alec Baldwin (30 Rock) now that they're both on NBC so they can settle this in person.

(S02E18) They don't do much in the way of developing the big mysteries, but I do like it when the Supernatural team takes time out to have some fun. Such was the case this week with "Hollywood Babylon." If it was the overall style of the show, I don't think it would work nearly as well. But as an every once in a while thing, these tongue-in-cheek, laugh at yourself, episodes are a fun diversion from the norm. Although, I would have preferred to see this one and "Tall Tales" separated a little more on the schedule.